Show Report: Late Fall 2019

This Saturday I drove to Germany and back, so I could attend Comitatus wargames club's Late Fall show.





Late fall is basically a minefield of heavily contested weekend spots for fun events of all sorts, all the while people slowly are herded into christmas preparations and last but not least get a bit less willing to leave the house as it generally gets darker and colder outside.



Among all of this, El Cid, captain of Comitatus and owner of Silent Night Games near Salzburg, Austria, announced their Late Fall Historical Battle Day in 2014. Two years ago the 'historicals only' rule was dropped.

I hadn't attended the show before, but after a short-term change in my calendar I decided to pay a visit this year. No painting workshop, not showcase stuff, I basically went there as a punter. Hadn't done that since 2013 I think.




After a 3.5 hours drive (a very nice one actually. Great weather. WAY too nice and warm for late November) I arrived at the location in Southern Bavaria, just across the border to Salzburg. The venue is the same as the one of Austrian Salute in March, which I attend each year.

Late Fall is a little smaller than Austrian Salute, but had a nice variety of games on display.






There were several tables of GW's Warcry (run by Alaska13 and Lord Ragnar), along with a Warhammer 40k (run by Georg, Markus & Tom) table, Necromunda (run by the Dice'illas), and - wedged in in between - Malifaux/Infinity (run by Erion10).

The standard of the tables was very good overall and seems to improve with each event. The GW tables of course to an overwhelming extent were just GW terrain, which was built and painted really competently.

The tables were aligned in two long rows, GW things on one side, other things on the other. Which is a bit of a shame, but maybe illustrates the world of wargaming.



That being said, on that Other Side there was a very well-run Lord of the Rings/Hobbit/Middle Earth - The Strategy Game table, presented by Ic3m4n and Zauberlehrling.

A multiplayer affair, pitting all kinds of baddies against the good guys. Constable played on that table, and reportedly had a great time.

To pull things a bit into a historical direction teager40k and Lord Goas brought a very pretty Team Yankee (Oil Wars) table:

Team Yankee is what it is, and table space at events is what it is. However, I think the table looked great.

Even individually the vehicles looked great.

It's funny how relatively rarely we see paved roads in wargaming (at least I do), and it instantly gives tables a recognizable look.

Right next to it we got the Saga table, presented by Delia and Mad Cadian. This one won 'best demo table' of the day and it really did look lovely.

See, the barbarians took the church roof. This is why we can't have nice things. 

The table was full of nice little details, and the figures themselves looked great as well.

Call me simple, but this to me looks like a happy field of wheat.

A very nice train of wagons, oozing period flavour.

Right next to it, we got the Black Seas table, presented by El Cid (who was very much concerned with admin work and all of that of course, and Andreas Hofer).

The ships, painted and rigged by Andreas Hofer (who is quite well known for being good with tiny minis), looked great. 

This is the table where I spent the most time, because I was curious to see how this one plays. Looks like a fun game. Worth considering, also if you still got your Battlefleet Gothic models lying around. Shouldn't be very hard to modify to fit all kinds of things.

Delia and MadCadian receiving their official 'Best Demo Table' prize.

There also was a prize for the most persistently gaming person on the day.

Last but not least, Roll the Dice were present with lots of shiny new stuff, and an equally shiny Gangs of Rome table. I would have loved to give one a try, because I hear good things about the game.

Among other things, they had a whole box of those oh so pretty Victrix minis with them. Considering how Infamy, Infamy is upon us next year (I suspect), it was hard not taking the whole box with me. However, I settled with getting a few unarmoured samurai.

Afterwards we had a bit of a shop at Silent Night Games, and then I was off again Eastwards. First time I did the there-and-back-again to a Bavaria show on the same day, but it was no problem. One very nice bit was that I drove through Oberndorf, of course the birthplace of Silent Night (the song. Hence the name of the wargames shop. ;) ) and they had the christmas decorations up throughout the town already. Very, very pretty.



All in all Late Fall is a very nice, and relaxed show. It's always nice to see the guys and be surrounded by dedicated wargamers, very nice tables and minis. I'll make sure to visit again next year!



I hope that you enjoyed this little show report. If in the area, make sure to check out Silent Night Games, Roll the Dice, and of course the Comitatus shows. There's an event calendar on Silent Night Games' website.